As We Know It
by Chalayyy
Summary: Everyone expected the war to end quickly after that. No one expected the world to end with it. This is the story of four kids just trying to survive in a world of bending and chaos.
1. Getting the Band Back Together

**As We Know It**

**Notes:**

**Current Ages-**

_**Sokka: 16**_

_**Katara:15**_

_**Toph: 14**_

_**Aang:14**_

_Italics_- Sokka's thoughts at the time the story is taking place. Basically his commentary.

"_Italics"- _Quote from dialogue that happened in past events/memories.

(Normal Font) Katara's commentary

(Underline) Aang's commentary

**(Bold) **Toph's commentary

**Aang changes according to his needs (and occasionally emotions) at the time, similar to the Avatar State. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar**

* * *

><p>Sokka half-willingly shimmied out of his comfortable sleeping bag, scratching and exposing his bare torso to the dry desert-like air. He lethargically exited his tent and saw the evening sun's final rays of light slowly disappear beyond the jagged rocky horizon. <em>It'll be time to head out soon,<em> he thought with a hint of sadness. As much as he would have preferred to sleep in (_just five more minutes, really_), the nights were getting shorter which would severely limit travel time, and he had a schedule to stick to.

Sokka rested his back on a comfortable-looking rock and silently whined to the spirits (because no one else would listen) about his current situation. His mind absently wandered to easier times: when the world wasn't half-destroyed by the giant nuclear weapons created by the Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation; when his biggest concern had been stockpiling his seal jerky, not making sure his sister and he had enough food to make it to the next day; when he was more worried about how he was going to get two fishing hooks out of his thumb instead of worrying how the fallout radiation was going to effect _him_. It's been years since the bombs rocked the earth and shook his world upside-down. After that, people were less focused on the war and more focused on surviving.

The Fire Nation bombs had been designed simply for massive explosions, equaling massive damage. They attacked cities in the only two opposing powerful countries left- the Earth Kingdom and the Water Tribe. The entire Si Wong province was annihilated in seconds, with most of the once-powerful Southern Water Tribe equally destroyed soon after. They had already managed to obliterate the majority of Air Nomad civilization through conventional warfare. The Earthkingdom was quick to reply with full force, using similarly destructive weapons. The two warring nations hadn't counted on the radiation having biological effects on the victims. And they were **weird** effects.

At first Sokka was skeptical about the purported rumors of what was happening to people around the world, but his healthy levels of skepticism failed him when his sister started levitating the sea water into a miniature gravity-defying river. "_I'm dreaming, right? This isn't actually happening. It's midnight sun madness! I'm crazy. Katara, tell me I'm crazy." "You don't need me to tell you that to know it's true." _That didn't make him feel any better. He could no longer deny it- his sister had magical water-manipulating powers. He knew she could be controlling at times, but this was just ridiculous.

It turns out that the price of "bending," as it was being called, was a steep one. Scientists said that "the sub-atomic gamma radiation educed a transmutation within the genetic matrices' constitution, causing irrevocable physiological transformations." Sokka, understanding half of the words spoken, asked them, it not so many words, to repeat what they had said so that he could better understand them (really, it more like a confused "Huh?"). They reiterated that the nuclear fallout from the bombs was also causing people to have brain issues. "_Oh, don't worry about her; she was always like that. Ow! Katara, that huuuuurt!" _Sokka snickered at the flash-back. It wasn't his favorite memory, but it was a simpler life than the one he had now and he missed it.

The dark-skinned teen rose from his rock and headed back into the tent to wake up his rag-tag crew. Now that the sun set, it would be cool enough to continue their trek through one of the many barren wastelands. He woke up his sister first, per his brotherly instincts wanting to make sure she was alright. Katara may have been a pain, but she was his baby sister (and the only tangible family he had left) and he took care of her, even if she ended up saving his butt more often than he did.

Yet as powerful as she had become thanks to her new abilities, she couldn't fight off the brain damage happening to all new benders. As the months had gone on, Sokka had noticed a subtle change in one aspect of her character. She was still Katara, always would be, but she had developed a strange form of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Not like everything had to be perfectly aligned or anything like that, but it was more of a person-to-person thing. She couldn't help but try and fix everyone's lives, whether they wanted her to or not. And while it was noble and all, Sokka couldn't help but feel that they had bigger issues at hand. Like surviving.

"Kataraaaa" he whispered loudly to his sleeping sibling. Nothing. "Katara" he repeated, this time with several experimental pokes to the arm while he crouched beside her. She stirred and faced him.

"Ugh. What is it Sokka?" she yawned to her brother now standing above her.

"Time to go." He replied, reverting back to his normal voice.

"What? Can't we sleep in just once?"

"I already told you, we have to get to Ba Sing Se as soon as possible. I have a schedule. It's all planned out." He was proud that he had kept most of the excitement out of his voice. Sokka just had this _thing_ for schedules.

Obligingly, she rose and prepared her pack as Sokka moved outside to a rock-tent erected a few meters away from his own. Knocking softly on the stone wall (he had learned not to knock hard after being launched ten feet into the air), he called to the person inside.

"Toph, c'mon. It's time to go." He waited a few seconds before knocking again, preparing himself for any stray columns of earth that may decide to attack him. Raising his hand to knock once more, the side wall swiftly fell back into the earth and Sokka flinched (_I did not! It was a purposeful defensive maneuver.), _raising both arms and a leg, protecting him any theoretical assaults. Sensing a lack of instant bodily harm, the warrior slowly lowered his limbs to observe a sleepy-eyed bald teen looking up at him with calm, dreary grey eyes, one arm behind him to support his sitting position, the other scratching the back of his head as he yawned. Doing his best not to succumb to the contagiousness of the yawn, Sokka's muddled brain began working out why Aang was in Toph's tent before Aang addressed him.

"Oh, hey Sokka" the sleepy figure addressed him with a smile. _Well at least he's in Airbender mode. I think._

"Hi Aang" he responded half-heartedly. "Hey, uhmm, what are you doing in Toph's tent? And where's Toph?"

Aang looked at him quizzically for a second before replying.

"Sokka, Toph's tent is over there." He pointed to the other side of Sokka's shelter, where a slightly smaller earth-tent stood. "I bent this one last night after everyone went to sleep."

_Oh. How did I miss that? She has the only… earth-tent… wait…_

"**You** Earthbended that tent? (_Earthbended? Why is that the past tense? Shouldn't it be "EarthBENT" or something like that? _**Quiet, Snoozles. No one wants to hear you whine all the time) **But you weren't in Earthbender mode!"

"Yea… I kinda switched last night when I couldn't fall asleep. Sorry" Aang responded sheepishly with an innocent smile.

"But you're normal now, right? Good old Airbending Aang?"

"Yup!" Aang responded with a wide, toothy child-like grin, his eyes gleaming.

"Alright, well we're heading out in a little. I'm gonna go wake up Toph."

Walking past his own tent, Sokka berated himself for lack of observation skills, a surprisingly useful skill in a world of outlaws, bandits, and benders when you weren't one yourself. His thoughts drifted to when he had first met the (sometimes) happy-go-lucky kid behind him.

The siblings had first stumbled upon him unconscious on an empty beach, soaking wet and blue-skinned, but still alive. Katara was able to Waterbend the water out of his lungs and Sokka prepared a fire to warm the stranger up. He had come to soon enough, and was surprisingly animated for someone who had just almost drowned. Introducing himself as Aang, he explained that he had escaped from the battle between Air Nomads and Fire Nation soldiers. He had wandered around for years, traveling from nation to nation in secrecy, learning to control his new and unique ability of Airbending and planning a way to destroy the bombs in the Fire Nation that had killed so many lives. He considered it his duty as one of the last of his people to make sure no one else suffered the same fate. Sokka deemed him normal enough and (after some optimistic convincing from his sister) allowed the refuge to join them on their travels, but not before giving him a stern warning after noticing one too many googley-eyed stares._ "Listen Aang, you're cool and all, but if you hurt my sister, I'll make sure that your family line ends with you. Got it?" _This was accompanied by a machete coming precariously close to where no machete should go for someone hoping to have children. Aang's slow nodding indicated that he had, indeed, "got it."

The siblings learned soon enough that their new traveling partner was… "unique." They knew that benders had issues, but Aang's took the cake (_Mmmm, cake)_. Aang had what the siblings dubbed "Multiple Personality Disorder"- the multiple personalities each gave him the ability to bend air, water, earth, or fire. The problem was that he couldn't control who he was, so sometimes he would have more mood swings than a pregnant woman. The "disorder" part generally came when Aang decided that he just wanted to destroy stuff as a Firebender or argue with everyone as an Earthbender (and then destroy some more stuff). As a Waterbender, he was quite (_too quiet. It got really awkward sometimes) _and compliant, and as an Airbender, carefree and childlike. Sokka decided that he would go with the theory that "Airbender Aang" was the original (_Air Nomads. Airbender. Problem solved!)_, but Sokka could never be certain since each Aang claimed to be the real one. Eventually, he just stopped caring. Not like it would change anything.

Coming out of his reverie, Sokka walked up to the wall of the only _other _rock-tent and knocked gently.

"Toph? We're about to head out. You awake?"

Sokka had hardly finished the question when the wall dropped down and a ruffle-haired youth walked out and punched him playfully (_playfully? My arm is numb from all the bruises) _as she strolled past him.

"Yea, yea, Snoozles. I got it. Schedule and all that junk. Kinda hard to sleep with you stompin' around anyways" she said as she walked away, looking for some overly large boulders that would provide enough shelter to take care of business while Sokka cringed and whimpered, tenderly holding his arm and fiercely trying to hold back tears.

Sokka remembered his first encounter with the blind earthbender (Seriously Sokka? Another flashback? This is like, what, the fourth one so far? _Katara! Get out of here! I'm feeling nostalgic, okay?_But you weren't even actually there. Why don't you let Aang take care of this part?_Mehmemehmehmeh. Fine. …women. Pfft.)._

It was really Toph that had found them first. And then they found her…trying to steal their food. Aang had been on watch and found her rummaging through their bags and smelling everything she grabbed (_Wait, if you were on watch, how did she make it to our food? _Uhm… I took a little nap?_ *facepalm*_). Freezing the stranger's legs to the ground, Aang approached her and asked her in a quiet, timid voice

"Can I, uhm, help you…?"

Her response was to raise a pointed shaft of earth straight to his chest and another two to break her ice shackles. Dodging the rock column with a single fluid motion, Aang called for Katara to help while the girl just smirked and launched another attack. Katara was by his side a few seconds later, tossing him a water skin to make up for the water he already used. She herself had a tubular water skin snaking down each arm from a larger pack on her back, the ends of the tubes reaching the base of her wrist- this was an invention of Sokka's. He had designed it so that the sleeves of her shirt could cover the tubes for a surprise attack. It also allowed her to summon water without having to reach for her pack, a useful ability in the case of her hands being tied behind her back, and she could dual-wield water weapons that were still connected to her main supply, essentially allowing her to change their size and mass at will. Of course, this all required practice, but with little else to do during spare time, it didn't take long to master many useful skills.

Katara was a finger-flick away from unleashing her water whips when she saw her opponent for the first time- there in front of her stood a frail-looking girl, partially illuminated by the moonlight. Pale skin, messy raven hair flowing down past her shoulders and covering her eyes, a look of pure terror and sadness clearly evident in thee rest of her face.

Katara shot Aang a dirty look.

"Aang! She's probably just lost and alone, looking for some food." She turned to face the new-comer.

"Is that right? You just want some food and shelter?" The girl nodded timidly. Katara approached her and the small girl flinched.

"Don't worry, we're not going to hurt you." As soon as she was a few feet away, the oh-so-fragile girl smirked and raised both arms in a quick powerful motion, swooping them back down, and bringing up a hollow column of rock to trap Katara up to her neck.

Katara had a look of surprise on her face for a split-second before it was quickly over-powered by anger as she tried to squirm her way out. The little girl laughed at the water-bender's futile attempts, her demeanor suddenly appearing a lot less innocent than before.

"Gah! You brat! Aang, get her!"

"Going!" Aang yelled determinedly, already running forward and jumping onto a sphere of swirling air he had just formed.

After that, the bandit just started raising spikes from random spots around her, trying haphazardly to hit something, anything. Aang, trying to figure out the reason for the lack of coordination behind this attack, easily swerved around the jagged earthen points and spiraled to the center of the increasingly-spiked area while launching a few airburst of his own. Stopping a few feet in front of the source of all this trouble, Aang just sat and starred, examining.

She stopped raising death spikes for a moment and called in no particular direction

"What's your deal? Can you fly or something? You wanna fight or keep dancing around?"

Aang dropped off his air scooter, a smirk on his face and a hint of malice in his eye.

"Heh. Dance? Let's see how a blind girl dances with fire," Aang's hands now matching eyes in fiery fervor. He brought his right foot forward and, with his right fist following quickly behind, punched out a powerful burst of flames. The earthbender _was_ going to impale him and his arrogant voice on a pike until her confusion at the situation quickly turned to realization and she instinctively raised a wall of earth to block the scorching flames, now harmlessly warming up the air at her sides from behind the wall.

"Wait, you can bend water AND fire? You're a freak!"

"Ha! I can bend all four elements!" With this, he swung both arms upwards, trapping the entire girl except her head in a coffin of rock. With a reverse downward swing, Katara was released and hurried beside her ally. She opened her water pouches from her wrist and brought out two curving streams in front of her, preparing for either an offensive attack or defensive position. Aang looked over at his opponent, surprised to see her smiling mischievously.

"So what? I can still kick your butt! I'm the greatest Earthbender ever! This weak sauce is nothing." Just to prove how powerful she truly was, the self-proclaimed greatest Earthbender ever didn't just make the earth surrounding her fall back down. No, she made it _explode_. Rock shrapnel was sent flying and Katara was just realizing what was happening when a wall erupted in front of her face, Aang beside her with arms raised, fists clenched, in a cross formation in front of his chest.

He looked to his side, meeting Katara's quivering azure eyes with his own determined grey ones.

"You stay back here. I'll take care of the blind girl."

"Wait, how could you tell she's blind? She bends so well!"

"Well the fact that she couldn't see me right in front of her might be a hint. And the fact that her eyes are covered in cataracts. That's how. Now stay here."

"But I can help-" she didn't have a chance to finish since he was already running back to fight. "He's so stubborn sometimes!"

The two Earthbenders faced off, neither moving from their stances for a few tense seconds before the thief addressed him.

"You must not be as dumb as you look to already figure out I'm blind. Usually takes everyone else a lot longer."

"Most people are probably too busy trying not to be impaled, am I right?"

"Pf, don't get so cocky. Now enough blabbering. You're move, Twinkletoes. Ladies first."

"If you insist" his voice now dark and wicked. He lifted his left foot and planted it firmly behind him, bringing both hand back to his left side and forming a bright yellow ball of fire between them. He let it grow bigger and hotter before thrusting both hands forward and yelled dramatically, clearly enunciating each syllable, "Kamehameha!" (_Hahahaha, oh man. I can't believe you actually gave your attack a name. Who does that? You should have given it a manlier name, like… Hadouken. _Quiet Sokka. He can call it what he wants**. **Hehe, thanks Katara. I thought it was cool.)

The intended target of the fireball quickly brought up another rock wall for protection, the flames dissipating on contact and leaving a dark smoky scorch mark directly in front of her unscathed face.

"Ha! I take back what I said about you being smart. If you're going to shoot some more fire, don't announce it to the whole world." (_She does have a point there. '_**Course I do. That's why your sneak attacks never work, Meathead.) **

She jabbed at her new shield, sending fist-sized clumps of stone at Aang's head. Aang responded by expanding the leftover flame in his palm to cover his fists and punched the rocks he couldn't dodge into smoldering pebbles. As the last batch of projectiles came at him, the aura of flame hugging onto his hands dispersed to nothing, leaving his air around his hands steaming. He quickly shifted forms and summoned a thick stream of water from the pouch hanging at his side, the half-dozen flying rocks sinking into the defensive stream. As the stones floated in the water for a moment, Aang swirled the liquid into a horizontal ring, twisting it faster and faster, the rocks spinning along with the circling motion of his arms.

Uninterested in whatever plan he may have, the girl launched herself forward, propelled by a large mound of dirt pushing her faster and faster. Seeing an opportunity, Aang blasted the revolving rocks from their watery hold, one after the other, at his opponent. Not bothering to slow down, she easily punched through two rocks in one move, smashed together another two, and shot down the last ones with small earth spikes. She was mere meters away from pummeling his face in when Aang streamed the water straight at her, lifting her off of her moving hill, and froze her entire body in a case of ice.

After a few seconds of struggled grunts, the bandit acknowledged defeat.

"Alright, alright, you won. You beat a blind girl. Congratulations. Now get me out of this thing! It's freezing!"

After solemnly swearing not to attack, steal, or trap them, she was set free from her icy prison. She wanted to leave, too ashamed that she had lost, (**I was undefeated before you guys showed up) **but they asked her to join their group.

"Woah there Sugarqueen. You're offering me, someone who just tried to attack and rob you, a spot in your crew? You guys are crazy."

"A wise elder once told me that it's wise to make friends with your enemies rather than enemies with strangers."

"And if you have to steal food from travelers, it seems pretty clear that you could use some help. What do you say? We're heading to Ba Sing Se and we could use someone as good as you."

The prospective crew-member contemplated the possibilities. Sugarqueen was technically right. She had runaway from home to live a life of adventure with her Earthbending skills, but she hadn't managed to do much more adventuring than spend all her money and beat up a couple punks now and again. She had never really traveled farther than her hometown until she actually ran away a few days before the fight. During those days, she quickly learned that she didn't have the skills needed to survive in the wild (being blind didn't help much either). She needed other people with those skills so she could mooch off of them. These people seemed to have those skills and were practically offering to let her mooch. Plus, she might actually get to do some real adventuring. Seems like a good deal to her.

"Fine. I'll join your little team. But don't think this means we're friends, got it? I'm just in it for the adventure."

"Haha, okay. If you say so."

And so began the adventures of four teens in a world of chaos.

* * *

><p><strong>I'd write some more if people actually like my writing. If not, I'm satisfied with this being a one-shot.<strong>


	2. To the Moon

Part 2!

A/N: I got really excited when I saw so many reviews. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar or any of it's character.

* * *

><p>Sokka stared up pensively at the moon as his legs slowly carried his body through the warm desert night, his machete and club hung easily accessible on his waist with Boomerang slung comfortably across his back under his pack. He surmised by the amount of time they've been walking and the slowly-shifting colors of the night sky that sunrise was only a few hours away.<p>

Sokka had never considered himself a big fan of nature; he was a man of science. Yet he couldn't help but be entranced by the full moon's mesmerizing glow. Back home, he had never really appreciated how beautiful it truly was, but then again, he had never spent so much time simply looking at it.

The more he gazed upon it, the more deeply he thought. The more he thought, the more he came to appreciate the giant friendly rock in the sky.

It was his source of guidance; the moonlight provided sufficient visibility to make traveling during the night easy enough for Katara, Aang, and Sokka to actually see where they were walking.

It was his personal form of meditation. He could stare at it all night and just _think_. Let the worries and anxiety built up from the day ooze out of him as waves of pure calm rise up within him like the tides.

It was his support. Through all the chaos that went on in his life, he could always count on the moon to still be there- always there. It would never die in his youth (like his mother). It would never leave him for a war (like his father, whom he still missed very much). It would never stab him in the back and then stab him in the heart (like Suki). It would always be there, watching over him- at least he liked to imagine. It had been one of his few sources of comfort in such harsh times.

But for all the tranquility it provided, Sokka couldn't ignore the feral surges that coursed through his blood every time he looked to the moon's surface. It was as if he wanted nothing more than to howl at the full moon like he was its long-lost lover, doomed to forever call to it with no response. He reveled in his savage mind-set, letting the animal within him run wild. How could he deny it the freedom it so desired? Was it not a part of him? Was it not who he was?

He was a hunter by nature. Living in an arctic climate where vegetation couldn't thrive, it became almost genetic to have a predisposition for meat. And after his father and every other able-bodied man left for war, it was up to Sokka to provided most of the food for his village, so he quickly became proficient in his hunting skills.

He was the leader of his pack by rule. "_I'm the oldest, and that makes me most experienced, so it only makes sense that I should be the head of the group. _**Yea, whatever you say, Capt'n Boomerang.**_**" **_

The moon meant so much to him. Or at least it _had_ meant so much to him.

Ever since Toph had joined them on their travels, though, he had come to depend less and less on the moon.

With Toph's ability to feel vibrations in the ground, they no longer had to worry about stumbling into ambushes or being attacked in their sleep. She could pick off any potential hazards from a safe distance away and alert them of approaching threats.

She kept his days interesting. With almost nothing to do but walk (and walk and walk and walk), one of his only forms of amusement had been talking. Not so great an option when the only people he could previously talk to were his little sister and four personalities with a crush on her (_Katara attracts the _weirdest_ guys.). _But now he could always count on Toph to keep him from going crazy with her continual banter. Sure, things had been a bit rocky during their first days (_Haha, get it? Rocky? Because she's an Earthbender), _but he found her to be a down-to-earth (_I am on a roll! Two points for Sokka! Oh yea!) _kind of person.

"Did you really just sleep through that whole fight? _What? I was tired. And we were walking all day. _**Geez, you wouldn't last a minute on your own in the wild, pansy. **_…who's the half-pint, Katara? And why do I smell fresh delicious meat? _ Sorry Sokka, we just finished breakfast. We didn't want to wake you. **Ya snooze, ya lose. And you just lost some **_**delicious**_** bacon. **_Awww, I was saving that."_

The small bender quickly became someone he could rely on, a confidant sturdy as the earth she bent. He could tell her things he'd never told anyone before. How Katara has become the mother-figure in his life. How he never got to say goodbye to his mom. How he hasn't seen his dad in years. How useless he is compared to the rest of them, with no form of bending at his disposal. How he feels that he's the odd-man-out because he's the only "normal" one in the group.

This girl understood him as few people ever had. He appreciated his relationship with her, even if she did manage to crush whatever dignity or feelings of manliness he had left.

But one of his favorite things about his new friend was her eyes. Anytime he looked at her, his eyes instantly went to hers. They reminded him so much of the moon, all milky white and pretty. Not that he would ever tell that to her face (_she would probably beat me to a pulp)_. They were eyes of his friend (_best friend)_. Eyes that he would die to protect (_not that she needs my protection)_. Eyes that were blind to the world _(but could still see right through your lies and into your soul)_. Eyes that brought back those wolfish impulses in Sokka's mind. Eyes tha-

"Ow" Sokka absently rubbed his forehead where a small pebble-shaped bruise was beginning to form

"Stop staring, Meathead. It's weird."

"Sorry" he mumbled as he looked away, embarrassed to have been caught by a blind girl.

He smiled despite himself.

Yea, Toph was definitely better than the moon.

* * *

><p>"Alright guys. I think we've walked enough for now. Let's set up camp, eat some lunch, and then we can keep moving in an hour or two."<p>

Sokka's proposition was met with a chorus of grunts as the rest of his team behind him promptly dropped their packs- and then themselves- into the soft sandy earth.

"So, who's great idea was it to travel through this freaking desert ON FOOT?"

"Hey! You didn't have to join us. And at least we're smart enough to actually wear shoes on our feet."

"Yea? Well my foot's about to make a shoe out of your mouth if you don't shut it, Twinkletoes."

"Guys, I really don't think we should be fighting. We're just tired from walking. We'll stay for a day at an inn in the next town we pass. Where's the closest town Sokka? …Sokka? Sokka, don't drink that!"

Sokka was standing beside a desert cactus, his machete (glistening with a wet smear across the middle) tucked under his right arm and half of a spiky melon-looking fruit held in his hand like a bowl, inches away from his mouth.

"Calm down, Kat. It's just cactus juice. It's like coconut milk! But from a cactus.

"Yea, a cactus that survived nuclear radiation! You don't even know what _normal_ cactus juice does. It could be poisonous."

"Chill out Fussy Britches. We _are_ running low on water, and if Stupid over there wants to risk getting himself sick, let him."

"Thank you, Toph. …I guess."

With Katara half-complacent, Sokka lifted the fruit to his mouth once more and slurped the cool liquid into his dry mouth, sloshing it around a few times before swallowing it with a contented sigh.

A moment of silence passed.

"See? I'm fine. Nothing to worry about. You guys want some?"

* * *

><p>"YOU'LL NEVER CATCH ME! For I am- the Gingerbread Man!"<p>

"Stop running around! And _please_ put some clothes on!"

"Wang Fire does not run! The ground moves for him!

"I'm serious, Sokka! Guys, I could use a little help here."

Katara turned expectantly to Aang and Toph, both of whom were sitting comfortably in recliner Earth chairs, hands folded behind their heads and a six-foot tall stone umbrella between them, shading their bodies from the rising sun.

"Meh, we're good. Besides, this is much more amusing, eh Toph?"

"Sorry Sugarqueen. Gotta go with Twinkles on this one. Your brother, your problem."

"But you encouraged him!"

Toph smiled charmingly. "Someone's observant today. Who's 'Wang Fire'?"

"Waterbenders can walk on water. Wang Fire can swim through land!"

"No clue. He's just shouting nonsense now. See, I knew that cactus juice was a bad idea."

"Wang Fire can Earthbend the air!

"Sokka, please stop running around and come here."

"Wang Fire grew his beard at the age of eighteen… seconds!"

"Sokka, I have some fresh bacon for you."

"Wang Fire counted to infinity! Twice!"

"That's it! You're going down!"

_Five minutes later…_

"How is he still running around?" Katara wondered aloud from her lying position in the dirt. She had given up on Sokka approximately four minutes ago when she realized that she didn't have enough water to bend with and couldn't keep up with her brother's speed and agility.

Currently, he has standing in what appeared to be an askew Earthbender stance with half of his melon on his head as a make-shift helmet and was yelling something along the lines of "I am Melon Lord!"

"That's a pathetic Earthbending stance, Snoozles. You should be ashamed!"

Sokka glared at the blind bender.

"I'm not Earthbending!" He said, shocked as if anyone could say such atrocious things to **The **Wang Fire. "I'm melon-bending. Duh."

Suddenly, Sokka looked up and off into the distance behind Toph and Aang, a look of extreme worry on his face. Aang, noting his friend's change in demeanor, instantly turned his head around and saw- nothing.

"Sokka, what are you-" He was abruptly cut off as he felt a hand begin to softly rub the top of his shaven head. He turned to see Sokka smiling down on him, surprising considering the fact that the tribesman had just been thirty yards away five seconds ago.

"Dude, Aang, you gotta tell me how you did that kamay-… -kama…that giant fireball thing. It was awesome!" Sokka said this as he continued to move his hand along Aang's head.

As much as Aang could hear the admiration in Sokka's voice, that didn't do anything to relieve the awkwardness he still felt sitting next to the nearly-naked warrior who was currently messaging his scalp.

Gingerly, Aang reached up to move the probing hand away from his face and let it drop to Sokka's side.

"Ohhhh. I get it." Sokka, with much more effort than it should have taken, winked to Aang. "Don't worry, buddy. Just do it one time on the moon, and we'll call it even. Deal?" Sokka's hand was thrust out to Aang for a split second before he pulled it back and looked to the floor in sheer amazement.

"Oh my gosh! We're on the moon! Katara! We're on the moon! Quick, get a messenger bird and tell dad. He needs to know before the others find us. No excuses Katara! Just do it." After his revelation, Sokka decided that the best way to express joy while on the moon was to roll around on the ground.

"Guys. I can _see_ _the air._ I can see it! It's… it's… it's beautiful."

"How much longer do you think this'll last?"

"I can haz a cheeseburger?"

"Hopefully not much longer. I don't want to have to keep looking after him, making sure he doesn't eat his own foot or something."

"When did Toph turn into a guy?"

"As much as I'd love to just sit around watching Crazy make a fool of himself, we have company heading our way." Toph stood up and pointed towards the East where three distinct shapes were approaching them. As far as Toph could tell, they were "three giant freakish lizards" each being ridden by a single person.

Katara shrieked.

"WHAT? They have Mongoose Lizards now? This is bad. This is really bad."

"Hehe, mongoose. That's silly."

If Sokka wasn't delirious from his desert cocktail, he would have been mentally noting how odd it was that the radiation affected animals so differently from humans. While humans attained bending and psychological problems, animals were mutating at an incredible speed. Many even began freely cross-breeding with interesting results. He had been stung by Scorpion Bees, bitten by a two-headed fish (ironically, he had caught it for dinner), stepped on boarcupines, and made friends with a Saber-tooth Moose Lion "_From henceforth, you shall be called… Foo Foo Cuddlypoofs! Yea, I thought you might like it."_ Although he couldn't complain when it came to the possum-chicken. That stuff was delicious.

"Heh, looks like we're gonna have us a fight. About time."

* * *

><p>AN: So. I am going to be bringing in a lot of the major characters (Zuko, Iroh, Azula, and others) soon, only they're going to be playing a bit different of a role. Hopefully it'll all flow smoothly. (If there's someone specific you want, let me know. I don't really have much set in stone, so I'm open to ideas.)

Yes, there will be bits of Tokka/Kataang/ maybe even some Zutara, but I'm not going to be making it a major part of the story.

I just wanted to do a bit on Sokka's interaction with the moon because I got super excited when I realized that Sokka is paralleled with a wolf a lot in the show (he's got his warrior's wolf tail, his wolf armor, he's all about the meat, etc) and then he falls in love with Yue, who becomes the moon. I haven't really seen anyone talk about it (granted, I haven't read many Sokka/Yue stories), so I figured I would give it a go. Kinda happy, kinda disappointed with how it turned out. I have wording issues.

You don't really hear much from Waterbending Aang because he just doesn't talk unless he has to. He's kinda like Hinata from Naruto if you know who that it. Quiet and shy and all.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it.

Reviews are, as always, much appreciated.

Wang Fire built the hospital he was born in. Just saying.


End file.
